Nipp waives preliminary hearing

For the second time in a week, James Conn Nipp waived preliminary hearing Thursday on charges that might link him to the disappearance of Wilson teenager Molly Miller and her boyfriend, Colt Haynes.

Nipp waived his rights to a preliminary hearing in Carter County District Court on a charge of endangering others while eluding/attempting to elude a police officer. The 22-year-old man was charged in January with endangering Miller and Haynes, who were identified as passengers in a car he was driving when he eluded law enforcement officers July 7 in a chase that went from Carter County into Love County. The charge was based on an Oklahoma Highway Patrol investigation that was launched when the car Nipp had been driving was found abandoned after being involved in a hit-and-run crash.

In addition to the endangering-others charge, Nipp faces an attached motion to accelerate a deferred sentence he earned in 2011 on a Carter County drug possession conviction. That motion to accelerate alone could earn the Overbrook man two to 10 years in prison.

Nipp also waived preliminary hearing in Love County District Court Monday. In Love County, he faces charges of eluding/attempting to elude police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon and unauthorized use of a vehicle in connection with the same July 7 case.

Next on Nipp’s court date schedule is formal arraignment. He will appear in Love County District Court on April 22, and a day later in Carter County District Court. He currently is detained in the Love County Jail.

Nipp isn’t the only one facing charges in connection with the July 7 car chase. Sabrina Graham, Lone Grove, is also facing insurance fraud and false reporting of a crime. The woman is accused of telling investigators her 2012 Honda Accord had been stolen in an alleged effort to shield Nipp. The OHP investigation, which resulted in a 500-page report, produces evidence that Graham had given Nipp permission to drive her vehicle.

Graham is scheduled to appear in Carter County District Court for preliminary hearing April 24. She is currently free on bond pending the outcome of her case.